Marines told to meet strict fitness standards, or ship out

About a dozen Marines from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar worked out in December in the Body Composition Program, a remedial conditioning and nutrition program for overweight Marines in danger of being kicked out of the Corps if they don't slim down. Some fit and trim Marines join in just for the exercise. |_Mandatory Photo Credit: Photo by Don Boomer/UT San Diego/Copyright 2012 San Diego Union-Tribune, LLC
— Don Boomer

About a dozen Marines from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar worked out in December in the Body Composition Program, a remedial conditioning and nutrition program for overweight Marines in danger of being kicked out of the Corps if they don't slim down. Some fit and trim Marines join in just for the exercise. |_Mandatory Photo Credit: Photo by Don Boomer/UT San Diego/Copyright 2012 San Diego Union-Tribune, LLC
— Don Boomer

When he became commandant of the Marine Corps in 2010, Gen. James Amos was dismayed at what he saw on a base tour. Despite what could be described as a fanatical emphasis on fitness in the Corps, too many Marines were too fat for their uniforms.

The trim top officer of the Corps ordered his inspector general to conduct surprise weigh-ins in 2011.

Failure to meet weight standards has always been a barrier to promotion and potential career-ender. Now, the stakes for battling the bulge are higher because competition to remain in uniform is increasing as the military downsizes.

But the crackdown on body fat seems to be helping more Marines maintain fighting form.

The Army dismissed more than 1,600 soldiers last year for failing to meet weight standards. The Navy kicked out 1,374 in fiscal 2012, up from 760 in 2011.

The Marine Corps, the smallest of the Pentagon's armed forces, discharged 132 for weight-control problems in fiscal 2012. In 2011, it was 186, nearly double the previous year.

Weight standards

The official Marine definition of fat is based on a strict sliding height-to-weight ratio. For those who top the scales, a secondary measure of body fat based on the circumference of the waist minus the neck comes into play. A thick neck helps in “making tape” (an attached jarhead is optional).

Marines are weighed at least twice a year.

“It’s part of everything else that goes in the record. It’s just another way (of evaluating) when promotion boards meet and retention boards meet. We want to keep the best-performing Marines and part of that is their discipline with their weight and fitness level,” said Capt. John Topolski, 29, of Albuquerque, assistant operations officer for Camp Pendleton’s Headquarters and Support battalion.

Topolski, who is preparing to run his 14th marathon this summer, helps coach Marines on fitness and nutrition.

Some complain that weight shouldn’t matter if they are swift and strong and pass annual fitness and combat tests. But rock hard muscles under a layer of blubber won’t cut it in the Corps. To be a Marine, one must look like a Marine — fit to fight.

“The public expects Marines to always present a good appearance in uniform,” Topolski said. “If you are grossly out of standards, overweight, you’re not going to impart confidence that you are physically able to do the kinds of things Marines are expected to do. That would be going on 20-mile hikes and operating in austere conditions.”

Body Composition Program

Master Sgt. George Jones, an operations chief for Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, runs a daily workout program for Marines who fail to meet weight and body fat standards.

About a dozen Marines in olive drab shorts and t-shirts reported recently at “Top’s Dirty Box,” a section of a warehouse equipped with pull-up bars, medicine balls and ropes hanging from the rafters.

One Marine in the group will probably be kicked out of the Corps for failing to slim down. Several more, however, are about to “graduate” from the Body Composition Program, a six-month exercise and nutrition regimen for Marines on notice to shape up or ship out.

“So we got two leaving us in January. Who else? One more? … I’ll be down to like 10 people. Sweet!” said Jones, 39, of Temecula.

When the gym opened in February 2011, they had 60 Marines split into two classes. Now among the roughly 900 in Headquarters & Headquarters Squadron, about 15 are assigned. Another five, as lean and fit as they come, work out with them for the heck of it.

The Marines jumped on and off wooden boxes, walked in lunges and pushed against the concrete floor. At “the cage” of pull-up bars, Jones hollered appreciatively, “bunch of animals!”

In fiscal 2010, there were 7,284 Marines in the Body Composition Program, with male Marines at the enlisted ranks of lance corporal and sergeant accounting for most of the unwanted girth, according to Marine Corps Manpower and Reserve Affairs. In 2011, it was down to 7,162 and in 2012 to 6,076.

Uber-athletes

The numbers reflect less than 4 percent of Marines. But they are surprising given the uber-athleticism of Marine culture, which favors activities like power lifting, ultra-marathons, Cross-fit, martial arts and the annual Mud Run at Camp Pendleton.

Case in point: Lt. Col. Brian Foster, executive officer of a Miramar fighter jet squadron deployed to the Middle East, celebrated the Marine Corps birthday in November by running 36 miles in the heat.

Graying top brass aren’t exempt either. Maj. Gen. Gregg Sturdevant, the 50-something year-old commanding general of the Marine air wing in Afghanistan, dropped more pounds than he needed to in part through an addiction to the INSANITY workout. True to its name, the program involves intense intervals of plyometric exercises, no equipment needed.

When weights aren’t available downrange, sandbags stand in for barbells on Marine bases. Last summer at Tabac, in Sangin, Afghanistan, Twentynine Palms Marines with 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment kept fit in a tent with no air conditioning. As temperatures regularly spiked toward 130-degrees and dust storms blew by, they threw around tractor tires and kettle bells.

They also competed in a three-mile runs around base in flak jackets. “There are no couch potatoes in the infantry,” explained Cpl. Craig Shaver, a 21-year-old squad leader.

The Spartan existence of Marines in combat extends to food. If you want Pizza Hut at Camp Leatherneck in Afghanistan, you have to find a ride to the British side of the base.

Even the cafeteria is too decadent for some deployed to Afghanistan. In 2010, then-Lt. Col. Scott Leonard was commanding officer of a light armored reconnaissance battalion camping in the desert. During a stop-off at Camp Leatherneck, which served all-you-could-eat ice cream at the time, Leonard snarled: “I hate coming here. Too many fat Marines.”

The Homefront 15

Some deployed overseas grow so thin after humping it on foot patrol with heavy combat loads that they tie their uniforms on with parachute cord like MC Hammer pants. When they return, however, home-cooked meals, the McDonald’s drive-through on base, steakhouses and beer can help pack on pounds.

Of course, Marines aren’t the only ones who sometimes struggle with weight. By 2030 more than half of Americans could be obese, according to a report last year called “F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s Future,” by The Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

For those looking to join the Corps, recruiters work out three times a week with potential recruits who need help getting into shape. Why spend time on the flabby?

“In the Marines, you’re pushed to be a leader. The beginning of all leadership is realizing yourself and seeking self-improvement. Once someone shows us the commitment to want to improve their lifestyle then we are going to work with them 100 percent,”said Sgt. Gary Soucy, a Marine recruiter in San Diego. “It’s what you put into it. If someone has their heart set on it, we are there to guide them and push them.”

Being overweight is associated with higher rates of diabetes, heart disease and stroke. In the military, it has additional life and death repercussions.

“Combat effectiveness is really what it boils down to. If you have an extra 50 pounds on your body, can you be effective carrying 80 pounds of gear, confronting the enemy in the field?” Jones said.

Food as fuel

Daily workouts help, but the real secret to getting the “fat monkey” off your back is “what you put in your face,” Jones said. He advises Marines to cut down or eliminate bread and other gluten products, simple carbohydrates like white rice, dairy, alcohol and sugar — especially sodas and full-calorie energy drinks.

“With the guys they often think ‘Oh well, I’ll PT some more so I can eat that cheeseburger,” Jones said, referring to physical training.

That didn’t work for Lance Cpl. Esau Munoz, 25, of Arondale, Ariz., a military policeman who bulked up after shoulder surgery for a training injury. For the first four months he didn’t lose any weight, despite twice daily workouts. When he changed his diet, he dropped 21 pounds in two months and felt stronger and more energized.

Munoz passed a recent body fat measurement. Now it will be a relief to ditch the stigma of assignment to the Body Composition Program and the stereotype that everyone in it must be a slacker, he said. “It’s a huge stress knowing if I don’t make it, first I won’t be promoted, and second, I could face administrative separation. That right there is motivation enough.”

Pfc. Raquel Barraza, 20, of Phoenix, always struggled to keep weight off her thick frame. On her last try, she cleared her final measurement of the six-month program.

“It felt amazing, because you put in all this hard work and you’re hoping it pays off,” she said. “They gave me this chance to improve myself. … Now I am going to stick with it and make sure I come out here and motivate these Marines and say yes, you can do it.”